quote:After years of crying that Obama should pull out of Afghanistan, he will call for an increase of troops. I hope he goes of the teleprompter and wings it.

Forever the hypocritical orange fake president complained about our involvement in Afghanistan, etc. It's all on the record. He campaigned against the same actions he will pursue. His 30 some % base will give him a pass on this just as they have on health care & his bigotry related to C'ville. He's representing his base well .

- A clear mission defined.
- No more arbitrary timelines to fit a weak political agenda
- Command and Control returns to the military and the War on Terror will not be regulated by political operatives in the White House
- Our soldiers in the field will no longer have rules of engagement that are so strict they prohibited them from winning
- No endless list of what we will not do
- Conditions on the ground will guide strategy
- Combat aircraft will be able to fly and fight again
- Terrorists must be killed to the point they stop permanently
- Support for local governments if they actively participate in the War on Terror
- The resources needed to win will be available
- Our military members and their families will get the support the deserve
- This effort is not nation-building. The mission is to defeat terrorism
- The U.S. will no longer carry almost the entire burden of the cost

quote:- A clear mission defined.
- No more arbitrary timelines to fit a weak political agenda
- Command and Control returns to the military and the War on Terror will not be regulated by political operatives in the White House
- Our soldiers in the field will no longer have rules of engagement that are so strict they prohibited them from winning
- No endless list of what we will not do
- Conditions on the ground will guide strategy
- Combat aircraft will be able to fly and fight again
- Terrorists must be killed to the point they stop permanently
- Support for local governments if they actively participate in the War on Terror
- The resources needed to win will be available
- Our military members and their families will get the support the deserve
- This effort is not nation-building. The mission is to defeat terrorism
- The U.S. will no longer carry almost the entire burden of the cost

WOW!!! Not a single mention of Obama or "corrupt liberal". Good boy! I'm so proud of you. Guys, isn't he growing up so fast? Just like a weed!

I don't know if he is aware that the US Nasa mapped the mineral mines in Afghanistan prior to our going to Afghanistan to fight the war. Apparently there were plans to acquire the minerals in that country.

About 104,000 people have been killed as a result of armed conflict in Afghanistan since 2001. More than 31,000 were civilians, according to the Costs of War project at Brown University.

• Since President Obama approved a troop surge in 2009, the war in Afghanistan has claimed at least 26,512 civilian lives and injured nearly 48,931 more, according to a July United Nations report. At least 5,243 civilians have been killed or injured in 2017 alone, including higher numbers of woman and children than previous in years.

• There are currently an estimated 8,400 US troops stationed in Afghanistan, according to reports. Trump did not say how many more troops he would send to fight in the war, but reports indicate that he approved sending 4,000 additional troops, bringing the total number to 12,400.

• The Department of Defense reports that there have been 2,394 US military casualties as a result of the war in Afghanistan, including 44 casualties since military operations officially "ended" back in 2014.

• As of 2015, US drone strikes in Northern Pakistan killed between 2,000 and 3,800 people, according to international estimates. About 22,100 Pakistani civilians have been killed and another 40,000 wounded since the US ramped up support for counter-insurgency programs in the country. Violence in Pakistan has created about 1.4 million refugees.

• Congress has committed more than $800 billion directly to the war in Afghanistan since it began in 2001, but when associate costs such as the price tag of medical services for wounded veterans are factored in, that number easily tops $1 trillion.

• $1 trillion is also the combined amount of money researchers estimate the US government will need spend on treating wounded veterans from military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan by 2053, according to a 2016 Brown University study.

• The study also found that, when the war budgets for the Department of Defense, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security are combined with the estimated cost of caring for veterans, the total price tag for US operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria since 2001 comes out to nearly $4.8 trillion.

• By 2014, the US had incurred $453 billion in interest on money borrowed to pay for the wars. Unless Congress changes the way the US pays for war, interest costs will add $7.9 trillion to the national debt by 2053, an amount that dwarfs the original costs of the all the wars combined, according to the Brown University team.

• About $110 billion has been allocated to humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Afghanistan since 2001, including at least $4.8 billion for "counter-narcotics" operations. A 2015 report found that the formal Afghan private sector only accounts for 10 to 12 percent of the nation's economy, with much of the rest coming from international and US aid or the black market.

• As of 2015, 58 percent of the $13.3 billion in USAID funds spent on reconstruction in Afghanistan went to only 10 contractors, and federal auditors have long complained of delays and cost overruns.

Further Remarks: Mitch McConnell said they would approve raising the debt ceiling again when it expires September 30, 2017, so that is good news, no govt. shutdown, but I find $453 billion dollars in interest on money we borrowed since 2014 to wage war over there unfathomable. How high can our debt ceiling go before the dollar becomes like pesos?

[Edited on 8/22/2017 by gina]

[Edited on 8/22/2017 by gina]

____________________"Mankind is a single nation" "Allah did not make you a single people so he could try you in what he gave you, to him you will all return, he will inform you where you differed". Quran Chapter 2 Sura 213

I don't know if he is aware that the US Nasa mapped the mineral mines in Afghanistan prior to our going to Afghanistan to fight the war. Apparently there were plans to acquire the minerals in that country.

Additionally, the contracts for the oil in the Caspian Sea were signed prior to 9-11-01. It was done in Cambridge, Massachusetts at a club called Helmand, and Hamid Karzai was there and signed off on it, even though he had not even come to power in Afghanistan., it was planned to install him into power, it did not just happen. I doubt Trump knows these things. This information appeared in books and was reportedly recounted by bin Laden family members who did not go along with the official story of 9-11-01 or the plans to destabilize the entire Middle East with certain groups taking control of the oil of many countries, the US was not alone in this bold idea.

I don't know if he is aware that the US Nasa mapped the mineral mines in Afghanistan prior to our going to Afghanistan to fight the war. Apparently there were plans to acquire the minerals in that country.

Additionally, the contracts for the oil in the Caspian Sea were signed prior to 9-11-01. It was done in Cambridge, Massachusetts at a club called Helmand, and Hamid Karzai was there and signed off on it, even though he had not even come to power in Afghanistan., it was planned to install him into power, it did not just happen. I doubt Trump knows these things. This information appeared in books and was reportedly recounted by bin Laden family members who did not go along with the official story of 9-11-01 or the plans to destabilize the entire Middle East with certain groups taking control of the oil of many countries, the US was not alone in this bold idea.

That is hysterical.

Oh wait, you were serious...

PK, that is still hysterical.

I'm redacting my post, but it is true. A well credentialed reporter documented it. Mankind murdered all those people all in the name of greed. Mankind can do what he wants to, and God will do what HE wants to. He has the authority over all. In the end HE establishes his laws over ALL THE LANDS OF THE EARTH.

[Edited on 8/23/2017 by gina]

____________________"Mankind is a single nation" "Allah did not make you a single people so he could try you in what he gave you, to him you will all return, he will inform you where you differed". Quran Chapter 2 Sura 213

For the good of the country he needs to meet the challenge and try to be presidential. On the other hand, it's hard to beat the ratings & entertainment value when the reality TV star is just being himself which means he can't control himself and goes off script.

I have no idea, but it has to be more than the entire history of the Trump Family, which is zero. But on the bright side since no Trump family member has ever served in the military none have ever been captured like that coward McCain.

quote:
Where are the democrats on Afghanistan? I haven't heard a policy articulated by any democrats since Trumps speech. Bush, Obama, both continued to keep US involvement in Afghanistan.

And as vague as Trump's speech was yesterday on detail, he will follow in the footsteps of Bush & Obama. If you listen to his brash campaign talk on Afghanistan, it appears he's going to do what he said he wouldn't. What a shock. This should make Bannon a happy camper.

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